FXE – et all

[4plexowner]

In addition to thinking carefully about your trading strategy, you might give some thought to the brokerage house you are using

Search in the archives and you will find threads about e-trade – they lost about 60% of their stock value this year due to mortgage lending and bad loans

If the economy continues to deteriorate as you expect, will e-trade survive as a brokerage house? What happens to your account / positions when e-trade declares BK and freezes access to all online accounts? One of the archived threads shows the verbiage in e-trade’s account agreements (that you signed if you have a trading account with them) that allows them to deny you access to your account at any time for any reason with no recourse on your part.

Several of the newsletters that I read are suggesting that 200 to 300 US banks will be failing in the next few years. There have been at least a few articles online and blog threads talking about the FDIC recruiting retired employees to handle these expected bank failures.

IMO, it is time to be very defensive with your assets. LOTS (think trillions of dollars) of paper wealth is going to evaporate in the next few years.

How much of that soon-to-evaporate paper will be yours?

Do you really trust your future to the guarantees of FDIC and SIPC? Ever heard of fractional reserve banking? FDIC and SIPC make the same assumption as the bankers do – ie, only a few people will ever make claims against the FDIC / SIPC guarantees at any one time so they only need to have assets equivalent to 2 or 3% of the amount being guaranteed.

In a real crisis situation (like 200 or 300 banks failing in a short timeframe), FDIC and SIPC will be overwhelmed. They will probably honor their guarantees but they are likely to do so with bonds that don’t mature for 5 or more years. These bonds will be trade-able on the open market but will likely trade at 60-70 cents on the dollar before maturity.

Check out the ‘investment pyramid’ that Adam Hamilton suggests for a bear market portfolio (http://www.zealllc.com/2002/bearport.htm) – note that gold and silver form the base of the pyramid – historically, as financial / economic risk increases, people move their money down the pyramid to avoid risk – this movement of smart money down the pyramid, along with some massive monetary debasement on a global scale, has caused silver to go from under $5 / oz to its current $17+ / oz and gold from under $500 / oz to its current $900’ish / oz price in this decade – as this movement continues, silver is going to $80 / oz and gold to $1500+ / oz

~

It just occurred to me that you are betting on the US dollar going down and yet, the US dollar is what you will be paid in when you close out your position. Any gain that you make will have to be discounted by the purchasing power lost to inflation … which is what you are betting on in the first place …

We are truly screwed as a nation as long as we allow a fiat currency and reserve banking to be shoved down our throats – ‘drink heavily’ seems like rather good advice this sunday am

[waiting for bottom]

So, I have an IRA to roll-ver. If not E*Trade, who do you recommend?

[waiting for bottom]

So, I have an IRA to roll-ver. If not E*Trade, who do you recommend?

[waiting for bottom]

So, I have an IRA to roll-ver. If not E*Trade, who do you recommend?

[waiting for bottom]

So, I have an IRA to roll-ver. If not E*Trade, who do you recommend?

[waiting for bottom]

So, I have an IRA to roll-ver. If not E*Trade, who do you recommend?

[Fearful]

waiting for bottom,

“The expense ratio is 0.4% which is less than the loss on a bid/ask spread or bank buy/sell rates.”

A bid/ask spread of 0.4% is high-normal, usually found in smaller cap stocks. For example, on a large cap stock, one might well see bid $100.00, ask $100.02. That is 0.02%

The ETFs have bid-ask spreads of their own. These spreads can be quite large for the small cap, thinly traded ETFs.

The fees are not one-time, as in the purchase or sale, but are annual. 0.4% is a significant rate margin. Yes, it is better than most mutual funds, even low cost ones, but it is still significant. If you are seeking 4% yields, and you lose 0.4%, well, that is 10% of your return!

If you attempt to actively trade bonds, you will endure a lot of transaction costs, and in this case an ETF or mutual fund would be better. If you buy and hold to maturity, and you can find bond dealers able to sell you bonds at decent YTMs (i.e. not taking too much margin for themselves), that is ultimately the best route.

Since you are holding in a tax-advantaged account, some would recommend buying mutual funds instead of ETFs. One headache of mutual funds is their distribution of capital gains, making tax reporting difficult. ETFs do not have that issue. On the flip side, mutual funds do not have the bid/ask spread, and on some thinly traded ETFs that can be a real issue. Also, there are many more international mutual funds than international ETFs.

A lot also hinges upon how large of individual transactions you are able to offer. If you can have a diversified portfolio with $100K+ transactions, you will probably be able to do better with individual securities than with funds. If slicing up your portfolio left you with $10K individual investments, you are probably better off with funds.

This is all regarding fixed income; foreign equities can generally be traded via ADRs; the capital does not need to leave the US$ at all.

That is about the extent of my knowledge of foreign investing. If I learn something significant I’ll post it.

[Fearful]

waiting for bottom,

“The expense ratio is 0.4% which is less than the loss on a bid/ask spread or bank buy/sell rates.”

A bid/ask spread of 0.4% is high-normal, usually found in smaller cap stocks. For example, on a large cap stock, one might well see bid $100.00, ask $100.02. That is 0.02%

The ETFs have bid-ask spreads of their own. These spreads can be quite large for the small cap, thinly traded ETFs.

The fees are not one-time, as in the purchase or sale, but are annual. 0.4% is a significant rate margin. Yes, it is better than most mutual funds, even low cost ones, but it is still significant. If you are seeking 4% yields, and you lose 0.4%, well, that is 10% of your return!

If you attempt to actively trade bonds, you will endure a lot of transaction costs, and in this case an ETF or mutual fund would be better. If you buy and hold to maturity, and you can find bond dealers able to sell you bonds at decent YTMs (i.e. not taking too much margin for themselves), that is ultimately the best route.

Since you are holding in a tax-advantaged account, some would recommend buying mutual funds instead of ETFs. One headache of mutual funds is their distribution of capital gains, making tax reporting difficult. ETFs do not have that issue. On the flip side, mutual funds do not have the bid/ask spread, and on some thinly traded ETFs that can be a real issue. Also, there are many more international mutual funds than international ETFs.

A lot also hinges upon how large of individual transactions you are able to offer. If you can have a diversified portfolio with $100K+ transactions, you will probably be able to do better with individual securities than with funds. If slicing up your portfolio left you with $10K individual investments, you are probably better off with funds.

This is all regarding fixed income; foreign equities can generally be traded via ADRs; the capital does not need to leave the US$ at all.

That is about the extent of my knowledge of foreign investing. If I learn something significant I’ll post it.

[Fearful]

waiting for bottom,

“The expense ratio is 0.4% which is less than the loss on a bid/ask spread or bank buy/sell rates.”

A bid/ask spread of 0.4% is high-normal, usually found in smaller cap stocks. For example, on a large cap stock, one might well see bid $100.00, ask $100.02. That is 0.02%

The ETFs have bid-ask spreads of their own. These spreads can be quite large for the small cap, thinly traded ETFs.

The fees are not one-time, as in the purchase or sale, but are annual. 0.4% is a significant rate margin. Yes, it is better than most mutual funds, even low cost ones, but it is still significant. If you are seeking 4% yields, and you lose 0.4%, well, that is 10% of your return!

If you attempt to actively trade bonds, you will endure a lot of transaction costs, and in this case an ETF or mutual fund would be better. If you buy and hold to maturity, and you can find bond dealers able to sell you bonds at decent YTMs (i.e. not taking too much margin for themselves), that is ultimately the best route.

Since you are holding in a tax-advantaged account, some would recommend buying mutual funds instead of ETFs. One headache of mutual funds is their distribution of capital gains, making tax reporting difficult. ETFs do not have that issue. On the flip side, mutual funds do not have the bid/ask spread, and on some thinly traded ETFs that can be a real issue. Also, there are many more international mutual funds than international ETFs.

A lot also hinges upon how large of individual transactions you are able to offer. If you can have a diversified portfolio with $100K+ transactions, you will probably be able to do better with individual securities than with funds. If slicing up your portfolio left you with $10K individual investments, you are probably better off with funds.

This is all regarding fixed income; foreign equities can generally be traded via ADRs; the capital does not need to leave the US$ at all.

That is about the extent of my knowledge of foreign investing. If I learn something significant I’ll post it.

[Fearful]

waiting for bottom,

“The expense ratio is 0.4% which is less than the loss on a bid/ask spread or bank buy/sell rates.”

A bid/ask spread of 0.4% is high-normal, usually found in smaller cap stocks. For example, on a large cap stock, one might well see bid $100.00, ask $100.02. That is 0.02%

The ETFs have bid-ask spreads of their own. These spreads can be quite large for the small cap, thinly traded ETFs.

The fees are not one-time, as in the purchase or sale, but are annual. 0.4% is a significant rate margin. Yes, it is better than most mutual funds, even low cost ones, but it is still significant. If you are seeking 4% yields, and you lose 0.4%, well, that is 10% of your return!

If you attempt to actively trade bonds, you will endure a lot of transaction costs, and in this case an ETF or mutual fund would be better. If you buy and hold to maturity, and you can find bond dealers able to sell you bonds at decent YTMs (i.e. not taking too much margin for themselves), that is ultimately the best route.

Since you are holding in a tax-advantaged account, some would recommend buying mutual funds instead of ETFs. One headache of mutual funds is their distribution of capital gains, making tax reporting difficult. ETFs do not have that issue. On the flip side, mutual funds do not have the bid/ask spread, and on some thinly traded ETFs that can be a real issue. Also, there are many more international mutual funds than international ETFs.

A lot also hinges upon how large of individual transactions you are able to offer. If you can have a diversified portfolio with $100K+ transactions, you will probably be able to do better with individual securities than with funds. If slicing up your portfolio left you with $10K individual investments, you are probably better off with funds.

This is all regarding fixed income; foreign equities can generally be traded via ADRs; the capital does not need to leave the US$ at all.

That is about the extent of my knowledge of foreign investing. If I learn something significant I’ll post it.

[Fearful]

waiting for bottom,

“The expense ratio is 0.4% which is less than the loss on a bid/ask spread or bank buy/sell rates.”

A bid/ask spread of 0.4% is high-normal, usually found in smaller cap stocks. For example, on a large cap stock, one might well see bid $100.00, ask $100.02. That is 0.02%

The ETFs have bid-ask spreads of their own. These spreads can be quite large for the small cap, thinly traded ETFs.

The fees are not one-time, as in the purchase or sale, but are annual. 0.4% is a significant rate margin. Yes, it is better than most mutual funds, even low cost ones, but it is still significant. If you are seeking 4% yields, and you lose 0.4%, well, that is 10% of your return!

If you attempt to actively trade bonds, you will endure a lot of transaction costs, and in this case an ETF or mutual fund would be better. If you buy and hold to maturity, and you can find bond dealers able to sell you bonds at decent YTMs (i.e. not taking too much margin for themselves), that is ultimately the best route.

Since you are holding in a tax-advantaged account, some would recommend buying mutual funds instead of ETFs. One headache of mutual funds is their distribution of capital gains, making tax reporting difficult. ETFs do not have that issue. On the flip side, mutual funds do not have the bid/ask spread, and on some thinly traded ETFs that can be a real issue. Also, there are many more international mutual funds than international ETFs.

A lot also hinges upon how large of individual transactions you are able to offer. If you can have a diversified portfolio with $100K+ transactions, you will probably be able to do better with individual securities than with funds. If slicing up your portfolio left you with $10K individual investments, you are probably better off with funds.

This is all regarding fixed income; foreign equities can generally be traded via ADRs; the capital does not need to leave the US$ at all.

That is about the extent of my knowledge of foreign investing. If I learn something significant I’ll post it.

[gdcox]

Here’s some homework reading.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8c7e62e-357b-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html

[gdcox]

Here’s some homework reading.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8c7e62e-357b-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html

[gdcox]

Here’s some homework reading.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8c7e62e-357b-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html

[gdcox]

Here’s some homework reading.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8c7e62e-357b-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html

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